Footprints of shorebirds and gulls on mud flats, Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park, GermanyThe rich food resources such as mollusks and worms available on the muddy seafloor of the Wadden Sea during low tide are intensively consumed by long distant migratory shorebirds to refuel fat reserves.

By Peter Prokosch

Bryozoa, "moss animals", Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park, GermanyWith wind and waves, samples of underwater sea fauna and flora become visible on beaches. Here the light "leaves" of Bryozoa, "moss animals" are found. They are colonies of small invertebrate animals,typically about 0.5...

By Peter Prokosch

Byozoa, Moss animals, Westerhever, Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park, GermanyWith wind and waves, samples of underwater sea fauna and flora become visible on beaches. Here masses of light "leaves" of Bryozoa, "moss animals" are found. They are colonies of small invertebrate animals,typically abo...

By Peter Prokosch

Tidal flats at Westerhever, Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park, GermanyThe Dutch-German-Danish Wadden Sea, with its tidal flats, tidal creeks, estuaries, salt marshes, beaches, dunes and islands is one of the last relatively unspoilt nature areas in Europe. The tidal rhythm determines the p...

By Peter Prokosch

Green-, brown-, red algae, and moss animals, Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park, GermanyWith wind and waves, samples of underwater sea fauna and flora become visible on beaches. Among the different colored algea are light "leaves" of Bryozoa, "moss animals", found here. They are colonies of small invertebr...

By Peter Prokosch

Kongsfjord, SvalbardThawing tundra and lakes in the short summer season of the High Arctic. Fauna and Flora mostly has only a window of about two months for rapid reproduction or preparing for a long season of ice and snow.

By Peter Prokosch

Shorebird traces on the tidal flats of the Wadden SeaThe rich food resources, such as mollusks and worms, available on the muddy seafloor of the Wadden Sea during low tide are intensively used by long distant migratory shorebirds to refuel fat reserves.

By Peter Prokosch

Marine garbage: fishing nets with dead eider duck, Westerhever, German Wadden SeaGarbage has always been discarded into the ocean, but since the 1940s, plastic use has increased dramatically, resulting in a huge quantity of nearly indestructible, lightweight material floating in the oceans and eventu...

By Peter Prokosch

Marine garbage: fishing nets, Westerhever, German Wadden SeaGarbage has always been discarded into the ocean, but since the 1940s, plastic use has increased dramatically, resulting in a huge quantity of nearly indestructible, lightweight material floating in the oceans and eventu...

By Peter Prokosch

Macoma balthica (Baltic clam), German Wadden SeaMacoma balthica, Baltic clam, a small marine bivalve mollusk, is the main food source of the long distant migratory shorebird species red knot in the Wadden Sea, Iceland, Northern Norway and other spring staging (refuel...

By Peter Prokosch

Thick-billed Murre or Brünnich's Guillemot (Uria lomvia), SvalbardThe Thick-billed Murre or Brünnich's Guillemot (Uria lomvia) is a bird in the auk family (Alcidae). It breeds on coasts and islands in the High Arctic of Europe, Asia and North America, where it is one of the most numero...

By Peter Prokosch

Thick-billed Murre or Brünnich's Guillemot (Uria lomvia), SvalbardThe Thick-billed Murre or Brünnich's Guillemot (Uria lomvia) is a bird in the auk family (Alcidae). It breeds on coasts and islands in the High Arctic of Europe, Asia and North America, where it is one of the most numero...

By Peter Prokosch

Thick-billed Murre or Brünnich's Guillemot (Uria lomvia), SvalbardThe Thick-billed Murre or Brünnich's Guillemot (Uria lomvia) is a bird in the auk family (Alcidae). It breeds on coasts and islands in the High Arctic of Europe, Asia and North America, where it is one of the most numero...

By Peter Prokosch

Thick-billed Murre or Brünnich's Guillemot (Uria lomvia), SvalbardThe Thick-billed Murre or Brünnich's Guillemot (Uria lomvia) is a bird in the auk family (Alcidae). It breeds on coasts and islands in the High Arctic of Europe, Asia and North America, where it is one of the most numero...

By Peter Prokosch

Long-tailed Skua, Stercorarius longicaudus, Kongsfjord, SvalbardThe Long-tailed Skua, Stercorarius longicaudus (known as the Long-tailed Jaeger in North America) is a seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae.
This is the smallest of the skua family, distinguishable by its long tail...

By Peter Prokosch

Arctic Skua, Stercorarius parasiticus, Alkhornet, SvalbardThe Arctic Skua or Parasitic Skua, (Stercorarius parasiticus) is the most common and regular breeding species in the circumpolar Arctic of the skua family Stercorariidae, It nests on dry tundra, higher fells and island...

By Peter Prokosch

Arctic Skua, Stercorarius parasiticus, Alkhornet, SvalbardThe Arctic Skua or Parasitic Skua, (Stercorarius parasiticus) is the most common and regular breeding species in the circumpolar Arctic of the skua family Stercorariidae, It nests on dry tundra, higher fells and island...

By Peter Prokosch

Arctic mosses, Alkhornet, SvalbardMosses form an important part of Arctic tundra habitats and grow thickly here, where there is sufficient water and soil. They can be so thick in places that walking on them gives the sensation of stepping on a soft mattr...

By Peter Prokosch

Mountain Avens, (dryas octopetala) on dry arctic limestone ground, SvalbardDryas is the name given to a series of cold climatic phases in Northwest Europe between 16,000 BP - 10,000 BP. Dryas III is better known as The Big Freeze. The cold phases are so named because Dyrus octopetala flourished...

By Peter Prokosch

Mountain Avens (Dryas octopetala), SvalbardDryas is the name given to a series of cold climatic phases in Northwest Europe between 16,000 BP - 10,000 BP. Dryas III is better known as The Big Freeze. The cold phases are so named because Dyrus octopetala flourished...

By Peter Prokosch

Glacier front with meltwater fall and blue ice SvalbardGlacial ice appears blue under immense pressure. Snow falling onto ice is compressed as the glacier winds its way through valleys, to a body of water (river, lake, ocean etc.) During its travels, air bubbles trapped in t...

By Peter Prokosch

Glacier front with blue ice, SvalbardGlacial ice appears blue under immense pressure. Snow falling onto ice is compressed as the glacier winds its way through valleys, to a body of water (river, lake, ocean etc.) During its travels, air bubbles trapped in t...

By Peter Prokosch

Swedish cornel (Cornus suecica,) Bø, Vesterålen, NorwayCornus suecica (Swedish Cornel or Bunchberry) is a species of flowering plant in the genus Cornus (dogwoods), native to cool temperate and subarctic regions of Europe and Asia.

By Peter Prokosch

Polar bears feeding on sea ice, SvalbardMore than any other animal, the polar bear, Ursus maritimus, is recognized as the symbol of the Arctic. With white fur and a sub-skin blubber providing insulation, the polar bear has adapted to live in severe cold condit...

By Peter Prokosch

Polar bears, SvalbardMore than any other animal, the polar bear, Ursus maritimus, is recognized as the symbol of the Arctic. With white fur and a sub-skin blubber providing insulation, the polar bear has adapted to live in severe cold condit...

By Peter Prokosch

Red Knots (Calidris canutus islandica) at Porsanger Fjord, Northern NorwayThe Red Knot is a migratory shorebird that travels up to 20,000 km twice a year from its breeding grounds on the high Arctic tundra to its southern non-breeding sites. Along with having one of the longest total migration...

By Peter Prokosch

Red Knots (Calidris canutus islandica,) feeding at Porsanger Fjord, Northern NorwayThe Red Knot is a migratory shorebird that travels up to 20,000 km twice a year from its breeding grounds on the high Arctic tundra to its southern non-breeding sites. Along with having one of the longest total migration...

By Peter Prokosch

Red Knots (Calidris canutus islandica,) feeding at Porsanger Fjord, Northern NorwayThe Red Knot is a migratory shorebird that travels up to 20,000 km twice a year from its breeding grounds on the high Arctic tundra to its southern non-breeding sites. Along with having one of the longest total migration...

By Peter Prokosch

Red Knots (Calidris canutus islandica,) feeding at Porsanger Fjord, Northern NorwayThe Red Knot is a migratory shorebird that travels up to 20,000 km twice a year from its breeding grounds on the high Arctic tundra to its southern non-breeding sites. Along with having one of the longest total migration...

By Peter Prokosch

Red Knots (Calidris canutus islandica,) feeding at Porsanger Fjord, Northern NorwayThe Red Knot is a migratory shorebird that travels up to 20,000 km twice a year from its breeding grounds on the high Arctic tundra to its southern non-breeding sites. Along with having one of the longest total migration...

By Peter Prokosch

Red Knots (Calidris canutus islandica,) feeding at Porsanger Fjord, Northern NorwayThe Red Knot is a migratory shorebird that travels up to 20,000 km twice a year from its breeding grounds on the high Arctic tundra to its southern non-breeding sites. Along with having one of the longest total migration...

By Peter Prokosch

Nepalese townshipClimate change is believed to contribute to extreme weather events and possibly to increase the frequency and magnitude of natural hazards and associated disasters, exacting high economic and social costs.
Recent studi...

By Lawrence Hislop

Irrigation system, NepalOne of the chief challenges in the coming decades will be to
capture and store excess water during periods of high water
availability. We are likely to experience more extreme melting, as well as extreme events of ra...

By Lawrence Hislop

Nepalese township and HimalayasGlaciers originate from accumulations of snow and ice and flow down the slope in response to gravitational forces, and grow or shrink as a result of exchanges of mass and energy. Glaciers gain mass mainly by snowfall, an...

By Lawrence Hislop

HimalayasOver half of the world’s population lives in watersheds of major rivers originating in mountains with glaciers and snow. A warming climate is now causing a global recession in glaciers, and some areas may lose their glac...

By Lawrence Hislop

Township nearby the HimalayasPakistan has one of the largest man-made contiguous irrigation systems in the Indus basin which is based on the water available from the Indus River and its tributaries. Part of the Indus river flow is provided by glacia...

By Lawrence Hislop

Agricultural land, NepalPredicting the future response of mountain glaciers is fraught
with difficulty. The world’s mountain ranges encompass a
huge range of topographic and climatic environments, and
each glacier has a unique relationshi...

By Lawrence Hislop

Township in NepalFlash floods pose a serious threat to people in mountain
regions and have severe downstream effects. In contrast to
most glacial lake outburst floods which occur in sparsely populated high mountain regions, a large p...

By Lawrence Hislop

Agricultural land around the HimalyasClimate change scenarios for the next about 50 years project higher
temperatures in the high Himalayas resulting in more rapid
melting of the glaciers which are an important source of water
of the Pakistani rivers....

By Lawrence Hislop

Himalayas The majority of mountain glaciers are losing mass in response to climate change. Most
glaciers have been shrinking since the end of the Little Ice Age around 150 years ago.
However, since the beginning of the 1980s t...

By Lawrence Hislop

Agricultural land, Nepal
Changes in glacier regimes and runoff from snow and ice,
combined with changes in precipitation timing and intensity
will most likely increase human vulnerability in many areas.
Livelihoods are affected as climat...

By Lawrence Hislop

Irrigation channel, NepalIrrigation systems and pipelines from major rivers should be developed, maintained and improved. Necessary training, revival
of old knowledge and implementation of new greener irrigation technology will require funds a...

By Lawrence Hislop

Fish, NepalGlacier melt inputs to rivers can affect the ecosystems in a number of ways, including habitat changes such as stream temperatures, sediment concentrations, water chemistry and nutrient availability, or through the relea...

By Lawrence Hislop

Village, NepalUNEP/GRID-Arendal's report 'High mountain glaciers and climate change, Challenges to human livelihoods and adaptation' highlights the vulnerability and exposure of people dependent upon these rivers to floods, droughts a...

By Lawrence Hislop

Stove, NepalLiving in high mountain regions like the Andes and the Himalayan region is a daily challenge as the remoteness combined with the harsh environment and limited infrastructure
hampers mountain peoples’ economic developme...

By Lawrence Hislop

Agricultural produce, NepalGiven the high
level of uncertainty regarding future runoff levels, and also
the highly variable contribution of glacial water and snowmelt from the mountains, future agricultural production
faces significant uncer...

By Lawrence Hislop

Brünnich’s guillemot, Hinlopen Strait, SvalbardBrünnich’s guillemots number in their hundreds of thousands at this colony in Hinlopen Strait, between Spitsbergen and Nordaustlandet in Svalbard. A migratory species that winters normally winters off the waters of Icela...

By Bjorn Alfthan

Brünnich’s guillemot colony, Hinlopen Strait, SvalbardBrünnich’s guillemot, which breeds on steep cliff edges, are prodigious divers. Their food is normally caught at depths of approximately 50 metres, but depths of 200 metres have also been recorded.

By Bjorn Alfthan

Zodiac with tourists, SvalbardZodiacs are an essential means of transporting tourists from a cruise ship onto land, or simply "cruising" in the waters around Svalbard. It offers a relatively unintrusive means of approaching wildlife at close quarters...

By Bjorn Alfthan

Polar bear diving after whale cadaver, SvalbardEven after 2 years in the cold Arctic environment a dead whale still serves as food source for polar bears. They just have to dive to get down to the rotten meat. A known site in Northern Svalbard for tour operators to ...

By Peter Prokosch

Mangroves off Miami, United StatesMangroves once blanketed the coastal islands off Miami, including Miami Beach and Key Biscayne. Most were cleared for coastal development and port dredging.

By Steven Lutz

Mangrove habitat in the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Key Largo, United StatesEstablished in the 1963, the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park was the first undersea park created in the United States. The park represents over 70 square nautical miles of mangrove forests, seagrass meadows, and cor...

By Steven Lutz

Juvenile fish habitat on the Virgin Islands Mangroves provide shelter for many juvenile fish species in the United States Virgin Islands. They are also recognized as important carbon sinks, helping to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, through storage in c...

By Christian Perthen (RUI LLC)

Salt marshes in Maryland, United StatesSalt marshes are seen as one of the most biologically productive habitats on earth. They provide nutrients to coastal waters and therefore act as an important feeding and nursery ground for a large variety of animals, in...

By Steven Lutz

Yasuni National Park, EcuadorYasuni National Park in Ecuador was designated a UNESCO biosphere Reserve in 1989 and covers an area of almost 10,000 km2. The park is home to several indigenous tribes, some of which are uncontacted such as the Tagaeri ...

By Anne Solgaard

Yasuni National Park, EcuadorYasuni National Park in Ecuador was designated a UNESCO biosphere Reserve in 1989 and covers an area of almost 10,000 km2. The park is home to several indigenous tribes, some of which are uncontacted such as the Tagaeri ...

By Anne Solgaard

The Scarlet Macaw in Yasuni National Park, EcuadorThe Scarlet Macaw is an easily recognizable parrot of South America. Here it is photographed in the Yasuni National Park in Ecuador - a park that was designated a UNESCO biosphere Reserve in 1989 and covers an area of al...

By Anne Solgaard

Borjomi-Kharagauli national park, GeorgiaWith its 75,000 hectares of land, the Borjomi-Kharagauli national park in central Georgia is one of the largest parks in Europe. Established with the support of WWF and the German government in 2001, the park is home to ...

By Peter Prokosch

Autumn colors, northern Norway The changing of the forest colors in the autumn is caused by the retreat of the same pigment as the one that makes the leaves green in the spring – chlorophyll. Chlorophyll absorbs solar rays, which in turn is used for t...

Costa Rica is on the forefront in growing its reinforest protected areasCosta Rica has a long history of encouraging and facilitating sustainable tourism, and the country is at times referred to as ‘the birthplace of ecotourism’. This form of tourism is defined by the United Nations World To...

Regrowth after fire, southern NorwayForest fires can play an important role in keeping the forest ecosystem healthy. While forest fires sometimes have devastating effects on human settlements, they provide several benefits for the forest biodiversity. For ...

By Peter Prokosch

Mountain birch forest, NorwayThe mountain birch is a sub species of the common birch and is found in the mountain areas of southern and northern Norway. The trees grow in areas up to 1580 meters above sea level where they make up the tree line. The ...

By Peter Prokosch

Paper-mill, SumatraLarge amounts of Sumatran rainforests are vanishing into the paper-mill.

By Peter Prokosch

Kamchatka forest, Russia

By Peter Prokosch

Himalaya mountain forests, Sagarmatha National Park, NepalSagarmāthā National Park is a protected area in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal containing the southern half of Mount Everest. The park was created on July 19, 1976 and was inscribed as a Natural World Heritage Site in 19...

By Peter Prokosch

Himalaya mountain forests, Sagarmatha National Park, NepalSagarmāthā National Park is a protected area in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal containing the southern half of Mount Everest. The park was created on July 19, 1976 and was inscribed as a Natural World Heritage Site in 19...

By Peter Prokosch

Forests at the Great Wall of ChinaThe world’s net rate of deforestation has slowed down the last decade, and this is partly due to major reforestation efforts in China. One of the more famous tree planting initiatives in China is the Green Wall which beg...

By Peter Prokosch

Forest Elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) in the Dzanga Sangha Reserve, Central African RepublicForest elephants in the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park and Dzanga-Sangha dense special forest reserve in the Central African Republic, Congo Basin. The Dzanga Sangha Reserve is located in the rainforest in the south-western ...

Svalbard Reindeer, Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus, grazing on icy ground, LongyearbyenReindeer have a circumpolar distribution with several subspecies in different areas. The Svalbard reindeer is a small subspecies of Rangifer tarandus. The subspecies found in Svalbard is exclusive to this area. Reindeer ...

By Peter Prokosch

Icebergs in Disco Bay, GreenlandThe Icebergs from the Ilulissat Icefjord - a UNESCO World Heritage Site - in Disco Bay/Greenland are the largest to be found in the Arctic. Latest research concludes that ice loss from both Greenland and Antarctica is ac...

By Peter Prokosch

CottongrassCottongrass is so named for its soft and fluffy appearance and it is an important food source for migrating Snow Geese and Caribou.It is to be found throughout Northern parts of Asia, Europe and North America and is part...

By Lawrence Hislop

Caribou (Rangifer tarandus) head in GreenlandThe caribou (Rangifer tarandus) is widely distributed across the circumpolar region, and is otherwise known as wild reindeer outside North America. Indigenous populations, many of whom have evolved over several thousands...

By Lawrence Hislop

Xingu National Park, BrazilThe Amazon River Basin contains the largest rainforest on Earth. Nearly 50% of South America is blanketed by the Amazon Rainforest. When the South American tectonic plate and the Nazca plate collided 15 million years ago...

By Riccardo Pravettoni

Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus), SvalbardBlue Whales live for 80-90 years on average and are actually a grey colour, despite the name. Millions of microorganisms take up residence on their bellies, making it appear a light yellow colour. They often swim in pair...

By Peter Prokosch

Blue Whale (Balaenoptera Musculus), SvalbardIt is thought that Blue Whales are the loudest animal on the planet and that they can hear one another's calls from 1,600km away. There are believed to be between 10,000 - 25,000 Blue Whales surviving today, but this end...

By Peter Prokosch

Autumn in Setesdal, NorwayArctic tundra and open meadows are ideal habitats for Lemmings, whose diet consists of grass, moss, small shrubs and insects. In the winter, they dig into the soft snow in search of food on the ground.
The Norwegian ...

By Peter Prokosch

Autumn colors of the Sedges, Setesdal, NorwaySedge is the common name for a family of mostly perennial grass or rush-like herbs found in abundance in the marshes of subarctic and temperate zones. There are around 5,500 different species and they have solid stems th...

By Peter Prokosch

Lemming roads in the earth, Setesdalheia, Southern NorwayLemmings shelter in Winter under the snow, digging tunnels down to the earth. Here, warm pockets of air provide shelter and melt surrounding snow, providing access to food sources on the ground, such as moss and grass.

By Peter Prokosch

Red Knot (Calidris Canutus) tagging, NorwayThe Arctic is a vital area for Seabirds (birds that spend most of their time in coastal waters or over the ocean) and the European Arctic is home to an estimated 25 million, all of which find their food in the sea and br...

By Peter Prokosch

Red Knots, Porsanger Fjord, NorwayAlong the East-Atlantic flyway the Porsanger fjord in Northern Norway with its extensive mud flats provides an important spring staging area for knotts (Calidris canutus islandica) on their way from their wintering areas...

By Peter Prokosch

Sea eagle and red knots, Porsanger Fjord, NorwayThe Red Knot is a migratory shorebird that travels up to 20,000 km twice a year from its breeding grounds on the high Arctic tundra to its southern non-breeding sites. Along with having one of the longest total migratio...

By Peter Prokosch

Pink-Footed Goose nest, SvalbardThe Pink-Footed Goose breeds in Spitsbergen, Iceland or Greenland and is often found Wintering in the United Kingdom. Nesting sites in the Tundra are often re-used year after year and some are thought to be up to 40 year...

By Peter Prokosch

Autumn colors at the northern tree line on the Varanger Peninsular, NorwayThe Varanger Peninsula is situated in Finnmark, north-eastern Norway. The treeline in Norway mainly comprises mountain birch, a sub-species of downy birch.

By Peter Prokosch

Swedish Cornel, Cornus suecica at the northern tree line on the Varanger Peninsular, NorwayCornus suecica (Swedish Cornel or Bunchberry) is a species of flowering plant in the genus Cornus (dogwoods), native to cool temperate and subarctic regions of Europe and Asia.

By Peter Prokosch

Autumn colors on the Varanger Peninsular, NorwayAutumn arrives at Varanger Peninsula from late August onwards, when the sun sets earlier and earlier. Ground foliage retains the same bright colours as the trees during this period.

By Peter Prokosch

Berchtesgaden National Park, Bavaria, GermanyThe only German National Park situated in the Alps, Berchtesgaden National Park was founded in 1978 and extends over a surface area of 210 km². Human presence in the park dates back to the Neolithic Age (2500-2000BC). Th...

By Peter Prokosch

Relocating orphaned gorillas in DR Congo, April 2010Veterinarians and helpers accompany an orphaned gorilla en route to a nature reserve in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, with the assistance of the UN Mission in the Congo - MONUC.

By Tim Freccia

Veterinarians inspect gorillas A veterinarian inspects a cage holding an orphaned gorilla, en route to a reserve in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Transferring gorillas from one area to another helps replenish populations and strengthen the...

By Tim Freccia

Airlift of gorillas by UN MONUC helicopterOrphaned gorillas are airlifted from Goma, in North Kivu Province (DRC) by helicopter, following recommendation from scientists that ground transportation would be too difficult and traumatic for the gorillas.

By Tim Freccia

Park Rangers in eastern Democratic Republic of CongoPark rangers from Tayna Nature Reserve. The park rangers work for UGADEC, a union of eight community conservation organisations in eastern Democratic Republic. UGADEC was born in 2002 out of the need to pool efforts for ...

By Tim Freccia

Park Ranger in Tayna Nature Reserve, KasughoA park ranger working for UGADEC, an organisation which brings together eight community conservation associations. Park rangers are prepared to stop illegal hunting and other illegal action, but they are not present in s...

By Tim Freccia

Park Rangers in eastern Democratic Republic of CongoMany of the Congo Basin's national parks are situated in areas of insecurity, which restricts the access of park rangers and limits their capacities to protect species and habitats within the parks. Tragically, about 200...